A Cahill Christmas
by Optim
Summary: During the holidays, Amy and Dan are having trouble getting through these lonely times, without their parents, and now, without Grace. This is their first Christmas back from the Hunt, and I'm terrible at summaries. I do not own The 39 Clues.
1. Chapter One

**DICLAIMER: I do not own ''****_The 39 Clues_****''**

This is a story that I started to write on the Cahill Message Board, as and since I have left for the holidays, decided to continue here.  


Dan picked at his roast that Nellie had made and glanced over at Amy. She was doing a little better than Dan was.

****They had just barely, barely made it through Thanksgiving without shedding any tears. Instead of giving thanks this season, they'd been thinking about all they'd lost. First their parents, then Grace. They weren't thinking about these things on purpose; they just couldn't help it.

Before the Hunt, the holidays had always been tough, watching all the other kids go out of town to see their families, while they only had one person that cared about them. They had always had a feast with Grace for thanksgiving, and she always knew how to make them happy.

But when they went back to their apartment, they would do something that they never talked about, or acknowledged. They hugged. It was something they just, did. They wanted to make their parents proud, and it also helped each of them know that no matter how much they teased and annoyed each other, they still loved and cared for each other. This Thanksgiving, they'd had a feast with Fiske, and Nellie had had another feast with her family. But Fiske didn't know them well, and he wasn't much of a social butterfly, so you can imagine how that went.

Both of them were unconsciously picking at their dinner, lost in thought.

"C'mon, kiddos! This is a new recipe I'm trying. You have to tell me how it tastes!" Nellie said, watching them, and trying to get them into higher spirits.

"I'm just... not really hungry." Amy said and stood.

"Me neither. I... had a big lunch." Dan excused himself. They had lost their appetites days ago.

Nellie knew how they were feeling. After all that had happened, she couldn't blame them. Their lives had been changed forever in just a couple of weeks, and that Beatrice woman had just abandoned them. Not that their lives would have been any better with her around, but she could see how it had affected them. After facing tons of life-or-death situations, this lady had left with a huff and even dared to try to steal money from them. Dan had caught her, of course, but that didn't make it any better.

"Alright." Nellie said, sighing. "I guess even a ton of food couldn't raise your spirits. Good night." The siblings just nodded and went to their rooms.

The next morning, Amy woke up early to make breakfast. Dan woke up later, and came down the stairs, wearing snow-proof everything. Their eyes met, Amy finished breakfast, and got on her winter gear. Together, they walked to the Crestwood Cemetery, at a nearby church. Soon they were there, and they walked slowly through to their parent's and Grace's graves and stood in silence.

Amy sat down and the tears came out. A minute later, she was sobbing uncontrollably, and hugging Grace's gravestone. Dan slowly reached out and touched Arthur's grave. Hot, salty tears emerged from his eyes. He stood there for a few tender moments, and then walked to a maple tree, all the while, looking at the graves. He slid down and sat. He put his hands to his face, and his shoulders shook in a silent cry.

When Amy recovered, she came over to comfort Dan. But he was too far away to receive her help. She still tried. Dan felt her hand on his shoulder.

"It's okay, Dan. We can't change what happened. We just have to get on with our lives," she said.

Dan stood up with a sad face, and said, "That doesn't mean that I don't miss them," then he looked up to the sky, now his face a mask of pain and anger, "Why? Why did this have to happen to us?" Dan screamed, hoping that somewhere, anywhere, anyone, would know. He just needed an answer.

When no response came, he punched a branch, and it broke off. Breathing heavily, he stormed off toward the mansion.

Amy looked up into the early morning sky, and asked, "Mom, if you can hear me, please help Dan. Or ask Dad. Please." Then she turned and ran to follow Dan, tears once again filling her eyes.


	2. Chapter Two

**DICLAIMER: I do not own ''****_The 39 Clues_****''**

Dan stormed up the stairs, into his room. He stood there for a moment, looking at the messy state it was in, and then started digging through the drawers.

He was looking for something he hadn't seen in years. His mom and dad's wedding photo. He took it out, and stared at it for a long time. They both somehow seemed happy and somehow carefree.

This now confused Dan, because he knew that they knew that at every moment, in this family, their lives were in danger. Yet somehow, they didn't completely fall apart when people they knew were killed because of the hunt. These, and a lot more thoughts ran through Dan's mind while he looked at the picture.

He hadn't been paying attention, but an hour had passed. Nellie came in with a slice of pecan pie, and left quickly when she saw what he was looking at. Dan never even realized her presence.

Later, Amy came through the doorway and walked over to Dan, sitting on his bed. She put her arm around him, and leaned on his shoulder, so they could both look at the picture.

"They were pretty amazing, weren't they?" she said, more of a statement than a question.

"Yeah." Dan answered. "They managed to be so happy, and even with this family, love each other, and even us." Amy said, and Dan grunted in response. "And if those silly old lovers could do it, why can't we?" Dan didn't answer, so Amy left him to think.

That night, Dan went to bed without dinner, but didn't really sleep. Finally, at 1:00 AM, he got up, put on his coat, and snuck out. He headed to the graveyard, and touched his dad's grave, and shined his flashlight on the letters on the stone:

ARTHUR JOSIAH TRENT

1959-2001

FRIEND, FATHER, ADVENTURER

He silently remembered his dad's personality. He never remembered much about either of his parents, only their faces and their voices, but he always knew that his dad was a crazy goofball, just from his smile. Dan then realized, as he moved his hand around the gravestone, that there was a button on the back of his father's grave. He pressed it. The ground between his mother's and father's graves moved away behind the grave, to show a set of stairs. Dan walked down, in shock, wondering what was waiting for him.

Amy couldn't sleep either. She did the same thing. She walked to her mother's grave and touched it, once again praying for Dan. She shined her own flashlight at the stone, and read:

HOPE CAHILL

1960-2001

FREIND, MOTHER, EXPLORER

She bowed her head, sadly, and put her hand on the gravestone. Then, she, too realized the button, on the same spot as her father's gravestone, and pressed it. The same stairs opened up, for the second time that night, the first two times in 8 years. She walked down the stairs cautiously.

**...**

Now at the bottom of the stairs, Dan shined his flashlight all around in front of him, getting his bearings. At the end of the stairs, Dan found a huge, black dome with tons of gadgets and such in it. On a normal day, this would have excited him. By the dark, dreary feelings he had now were blocking out all happy thoughts besides curiosity. The eternal loneliness that Dan had felt this christmas was unlike any other. He had always known that Grace hadn't been healthy before she died, but he was never prepared for how the loss of her would affect him.

Dan walked up, quickly and quietly to a large computer screen in the middle of the room. He didn't understand all the buttons on the control board, so he stood for a while.

Then he heard footsteps slowly coming down the same staircase he had come from. The person was already there, before even Dan could react. He moved his flashlight towards the figure, and, in his terror, fell back onto the control panel and hit a button. The lights in the room turned on, after flickering. He now saw that the person in the room with him was his sister, and sighed. She walked over to him, and as the huge screen lit up, large machines began to whir with power.


	3. Chapter Three

**DISCLAIMER: I do NOT own The 39 Clues. LAST CHAPETER! Sorry, everyone. I might make a sequel at a later time, if asked by a lot of people.**

**Chapter Two**

The screen went from blank, to the faces of two people - A man and a woman. Specifically, Hope Cahill and Arthur Trent. The eyes of both Amy and Dan widened in shock, and Amy gasped. In the corner of the screen, there was a date.

"Dan, that's two days before Mom and Dad left for Australia," Amy explained.

Then, the woman smiled. Not a happy smile, but a very sad smile, as if she were wishing for something she knew could not be. She glanced at her husband, and then spoke.

"Amy, Dan. If you're watching this, it means that your father and I have been killed because of the Hunt for the 39 Clues, and that we couldn't end it, to create a better world for you," she said, wiping a tear from her eye, because the sheer thought of her children growing up in the same world she did was unbearable.

"We love you two, and the baby on the way," Arthur paused to look at his wife, smile, then he looked at the camera again, "Baby Ryan James Cahill. But He is probably there with you now, so hello to you, also, Ryan!" Arthur said.

The shock that had enveloped the cahill's faces when they had seen their parents was nothing compared to the shock that they had a little baby brother. Amy now looked at her mother's stomach and realized that there was a bump there. But the video continued.

"But whatever happens to us in our future that will force you to see this video, it doesn't matter. You might be thinking that you don't understand why we looked for the Clues, even knowing the dangers, and why we thought it was worth it," Arthur said.

"The reason that we put ourselves in danger is because of our love for you three," Hope looked at the camera with caring eyes, "We wanted to save you from growing up in a world where you were constantly in danger, so we went off to search for the clues ourselves. We wanted to make a peaceful world, free of our family wars. But if you are seeing this, we clearly failed. That isn't the purpose for this video, though."

"We want all three of you to know that we want you to grow up and be happy. We want you to always know that we love you. You cannot dwell on the past, and live in a state of depression. You are great children, with great potential, and you cannot let sadness hold you back. I love you, Ryan, Dan and Amy. We both do." Arthur said, and he put his arm around his wife, to hug her. The screen went black.

For a minute, Amy and Dan stood there in shock. Amy wiped hot, salty tears from her face. Then Amy turned to Dan, who was wiping tears from his eyes, and looking a little bit... Relieved, like some terrible burden had been lifted. Amy turned, and gave Dan a big hug.

"Amy, you're suffocating me," Dan said, pretending to be annoyed, but she could tell from his smile, that he felt a whole lot better, and she did, too.

"Dan, we're going to do everything in our power to find Ryan. We will not give up until we're together. I promise," Amy said, and Dan nodded.

For the first time in months, the siblings felt whole again.


End file.
